Archive of September2011

On October 1st Vegan MoFo will once again flood the blogosphere with incredible photos, recipes, and reviews of amazing vegan food. I love that Amey, already posted about putting on her MoFo pants. It is good to be prepared, because it requires a lot of focus to keep on top of the tempting treats, creative […]

I’m a bit of an apple addict. I often imagine that first refreshing bite when I’m struggling to finish a long run. Craving the crisp texture and sweet flavour of an apple picked ripe from the tree can really hurry me home. I’m not a secret apple admirer, either. Last year my birthday card from […]

span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;”The final entries of thea href=”http://www.blogger.com/Here’s%20what%20I’ve%20got%20so%20far%20for%20the%20pie%20post.%20I%20wrote%20most%20of%20it%20but%20then%20ran%20out%20of%20steam.%20%20%20The%20best%20of%20raw%20mini%20pies%20The%20final%20entries%20of%20the%20Raw%20Mini%20Pie%20Challenge%20rolled%20in%20on%20September%201%20while%20Lisa%20and%20I%20were%20away%20enjoying%20the%20vegan%20food%20scene%20in%20San%20Francisco,%20and%20so%20we%20were%20eager%20to%20spend%20our%20first%20weekend%20back%20home%20studying%20all%20the%20delicious-looking%20entries%20and%20gearing%20up%20for%20recipe-testing%20and%20judging.%20%20%20%20If%20you’ve%20already%20seen%20our%20challenge%20roundup,%20you’ll%20understand%20why%20we%20were%20both%20beyond%20impressed%20by%20the%20adorable%20mini%20pies%20you%20churned%20out.%20We%20loved%20that%20most%20of%20them%20highlighted%20traditional%20flavour%20combinations%20using%20fresh-picked,%20seasonal%20fruit%20and%20other%20local%20ingredients.%20After%20scoring%20the%20entries%20based%20on%20the%20judging%20criteria,%20three%20finalists%20emerged.%20These%20three%20finalists%20moved%20on%20to%20the%20recipe-testing%20round%20and%20became%20the%20guests%20of%20honour%20at%20Saturday’s%20mini%20pie%20tasting%20party%E2%80%94and%20what%20better%20way%20to%20gather%20volunteer%20taste%20testers%20than%20at%20Toronto’s%20Vegetarian%20Food%20Festival?%20%20After%20a%20morning%20of%20pie-making%20in%20Lisa’s%20condo%20kitchen,%20a%20lovely%20tasting%20party%20in%20the%20middle%20of%20a%20vivacious%20crowd%20of%20animal-friendly%20folks%20at%20the%20food%20festival,%20and%20much%20discussion%20among%20our%20volunteer%20taste%20testers%20(there%20were%20so%20many,%20we%20had%20to%20keep%20a%20scorecard),%20we%20ranked%20the%20finalists.%20Do%20you%20want%20to%20know%20who%20came%20out%20on%20top?%20%20First%20Place:%20Natasha’s%20Key%20Lime%20Mini%20Pie%EF%BB%BF%20%20%EF%BB%BFNatasha’s%20pie%20began%20with%20a%20soft,%20buttery%20crust%20using%20local%20macadamia%20nuts%20and%20pine%20nuts.%20This%20lucky%20Florida-based%20foodie%20also%20has%20tropical%20fruit%20growing%20in%20her%20area,%20so%20she%20made%20use%20of%20key%20limes%20in%20a%20cashew-based%20filling%20and%20topped%20it%20off%20with%20a%20lovely%20vanilla%20creme.%20Inspired%20by%20her%20state’s%20pie%20flavour,%20Natasha’s%20tropical%20pie%20flavour%20was%20a%20perfect%20treat%20for%20a%20hot%20summer%20day.%20All%20of%20our%20testers%20raved%20about%20the%20refreshing%20lime%20flavour%20that%20balanced%20nicely%20with%20the%20buttery%20crust.%20We%20were%20also%20impressed%20by%20how%20the%20use%20of%20such%20simple%20ingredients%20could%20be%20transformed%20into%20an%20elegant%20dessert.%20%20Second%20Place:%20Rachel’s%20Blackberry%20Almond%20Petite%20Pie%20Rachel’s%20petite%20pie%20was%20a%20very%20close%20runner-up.%20Prior%20to%20her%20creation,%20Rachel%20took%20a%20trip%20down%20memory%20lane%20and%20went%20berry-picking%20in%20the%20neighbourhood%20she%20grew%20up%20in,%20and%20she%20thought%20a%20raw%20pie%20was%20the%20perfect%20place%20for%20her%20berry%20haul.%20Our%20own%20version%20was%20made%20up%20of%20huge,%20fresh%20berries%20that%20were%20bursting%20with%20flavour.%20Paired%20with%20an%20almond%20creme%20filling%20and%20a%20simple%20nut%20crust,%20each%20bite%20reminded%20us%20of%20summer’s%20best.%20%20Third%20Place:%20Jackie’s%20Neopolitan%20Pie%20As%20soon%20as%20we%20read%20this%20post,%20we%20knew%20it%20was%20something%20we%20had%20to%20try.%20The%20classic%20neopolitan%20reinvented%20as%20a%20raw%20pie%20was%20quite%20impressive,%20and%20although%20Jackie’s%20lack%20of%20mini%20pie%20pans%20meant%20that%20her%20mini%20pie%20was%20giant-sized,%20we%20still%20thought%20the%20recipe%20sounded%20like%20a%20winning%20combination.%20All%20three%20layers%20of%20her%20pie%20came%20together%20nicely,%20but%20we%20agreed%20the%20chocolate%20avocado%20layer%20was%20quite%20distinct.%20Some%20of%20our%20taste%20testers%20absolutely%20swooned%20over%20this%20triple%20layered%20treat.%20If%20you%20adore%20avocado%20and%20dark%20chocolate%20than%20you%20probably%20would%20have%20voted%20for%20Jackie’s%20pie.%20The%20bright%20pink%20colour%20of%20the%20strawberry%20layer%20was%20another%20draw.%20We%20easily%20attracted%20eager%20eaters%20at%20the%20Festival%20with%20this%20lovely,%20little%20pie.%20%20%20%20Congratulations%20to%20all%20the%20winner%20and%20to%20pie%20lovers%20everywhere!%20We%20had%20such%20a%20wonderful%20response%20to%20this%20challenge%20that%20now%20we%20each%20have%20a%20long%20list%20of%20pies%20to%20try%20before%20we%20run%20out%20of%20the%20season’s%20best%20bounty.%20Thank%20you%20to%20everyone%20who%20participated%20and%20to%20our%20generous%20prize%20sponsors%20VegNews,%20RawMazing%20and%20Vegan%20Essentials.%20%20%20We%20hope%20this%20has%20inspired%20you%20all%20to%20press%20a%20little%20crust%20into%20a%20tiny%20tart%20pan,%20layer%20on%20something%20luscious,%20and%20finish%20with%20a%20topping%20that’s%20fresh%20and%20fruity.”nbsp;Raw Mini Pie Challenge/anbsp;rolled in on September 1st whilenbsp;a href=”http://adashofcompassion.com/”Nicole/anbsp;and I were away enjoying the vegan food scene in San Francisco, and so we were eager to spend our first weekend back home studying all the enticing entries and gearing up for […]

I had a wonderful weekend at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival – but since I’m still behind in sharing all my adventures in Oregon and California, here is another shout-out to VVC! Cookies on cupcakes and dark chocolate treats

I hope that you’re enjoying all of the fun recaps from my time in Portland. There are a few more to come plus my review of San Francisco’s best vegan spots (I’m still dreaming about my meal at a href=”http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/”Millennium/a).br /div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: left;”br //divdiv class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: left;”Since I’ve been back […]

The internet can be a scary place. nbsp;It has the potential to make you feel both anonymous and exposed. It has become the first place we turn to for answers and then doubt everything we read. Although I was vegan before the internet, besides my blender it has probably been the greatest tool to improve […]

I’m home! I’ve finally uploaded and edited the hundreds of photos I took while in Portland, Oakland, Berkley and San Francisco. I have lots of great moments to share but I’m going to offer it all up in a number of shorter posts so that you don’t feel as overwhelmed as I do about all […]

div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”a href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/–XQoxdST3Ak/TmJB8p92BLI/AAAAAAAABfU/M1PTrNmJ1kE/s1600/raw+mini+pie+challenge%25281%2529.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”img border=”0″ height=”320″ src=”http://www.veganlisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/raw+mini+pie+challenge%25281%25291.jpg” width=”640″ //a/divdiv class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: left;”As summer fades into fall, we hit our peak harvest season in southern Ontario. It is a time for canning, preserving and freezing the season’s best so that they can continue to be enjoyed […]